Michelin to halt production in Spain due to Red Sea conflict

Madrid, Spain -Michelin is planning to halt output at four factories in Spain due to delays in the delivery of raw materials caused by the crisis in the Red Sea according to their Spanish subsidiary as being reported by Reuters.

A dozen shipping lines have opted to divert ships that previously used this route via southern Africa, increasing the crossing time for supplies to Europe by about 10 days.

Michelin had already suspended work shifts at its Spanish plants on the weekend of Jan. 13-14 due to longer delivery times of raw materials it needs to produce rubber and that are delivered by sea from Asia.

Spanish newspaper Expansion reported earlier on Tuesday that Michelin would halt work for a second weekend on Jan. 20-21.

Michelin’s Spanish factories are the company’s second-largest rubber producers but the unit said it had sufficient stocks of rubber to cope with the ongoing situation while it maintained supplies of raw material by sea, and was not planning to take any additional measures in Spain.